Freedom!

Yesterday I spent listening to Gary Fong and how to streamline my business. Whoa...have I been doing things so backwards!! I have loved sitting behind the monitor but I have missed so many times with my family. Hard to imagine since Denise homeschool's our two boys upstairs in our 1920's house. Well, anyway what is exciting that I am now finally outsourcing to Pictage...what freedom! But there is another reason besides the freedom...they are faster. Now I can concentrate on shooting, talking with clients and just being me! Whoopie!














The otherthing I did yesterday was right after getting my braces tightened...(oooooouch!)...was to listen to David Jay. Well, actually it was me and Torey listening to DJ on the conference phone through Pictage. Torey who is 14 thought it was pretty cool. I know how uncertain I was at that age but he is amazing. I think I was pretty unsure of myself at his age. But in hindsight I knew at 11 what was talent and what was not when looking at other photographers. But Torey, he has a great eye. As he went upstairs he thought it was pretty cool that DJ said it's about relationships. Here's a shot of him shooting with me at Grant's football game last week.














So, I thought it was pretty special this morning when I went over to DJ's site opensourcephoto.blogspot.com and he had posted some of my shots from the other night. For those of you who know me you wont be surprised what happened next. I cried...so thanks DJ. It is about relationships.

David Jay and Pictage

We had heard that DJ might be coming to our group of photographers that meet in Seattle and Tacoma and partner with Pictage. Well, he did visit and we were impressed. Without putting him on a pedestal, I found him to be "all that". And from those that work with him on a more regular basis they say he is just humble.

I talked with him about several things: the conference that I was just at with him, workflow and how to streamline my business and of course those that know me - ministry potential in the future.

It was a great night with so many new friends at a place that Me Ra explains is "the funkiest and yummiest spot in Seattle,
Bizzaro Italien Café in the Wallingford District."

Canoeing with the Allens

Well, for too long I have needed and I mean I needed --family time. So, we jumped in the Expedition with 9 of us (don't ask if everyone had seatbelts) and headed for the UW District. It's our Indian Summer here in the NW and it was just beautiful. It's hard to believe that such beauty is only 5 minutes from downtown. For me a special treat was feeding the ducks. It brought back so many childhood memories.

Rick and Druci...we love you. You are the best friends in the world!!

2 and 0

te‧nac‧i‧ty  [tuh-nas-i-tee]
–noun
the quality or property of being tenacious.

tenacity
n : persistent determination [syn: doggedness, perseverance, persistence, persistency, tenaciousness

My son Grant had a great time tonight in the rain...wish you were there. Lighting can always be a hassle in these games...and tonight was no exception. And when the rains came tonight I realized I could have used my rain covers. I was just hoping that the seals would hold and they did.

Winning was ok,...actually great but it was great to see the team hold together and fight for the win even though there were several fumbles. Yep, we all need tenacity don't we.

Have a great day and be tenacous!

Fall Wedding

This past week I had a wedding for a wonderful couple that I met last year. It was a small intimate wedding but I can only share a few images with you. I am sure that you are going to enjoy these details of the wedding as much as I did. And yes, that is their cake from Mike's Amazing Cakes.
The hammer and rose was so special that everyone was talking about how amazing it was and how it tasted. Yum...!

Jr Varsity

I am so proud of both of our boys Grant and Torey. And one of the things that I have to get more figured out this next year is keeping balance and allowing more family time with these boys. A few weeks ago Grant, our oldest boy, was in training on the field and was able to make a quarterback sneak and run it in for a touchdown. I wasn't there then, but Denise was giving me the play-by-play over the phone. One of the guys was playfully upset and said Grant..."your too small" after he missed him.

Well this week Grant was able to play in the his first JV game. Grant is actually one of the 3 smallest guys on the team and it makes it harder for the defense to find him. One of the plays didn't go quite right but Grant was able think fast and run it in for a TD. For most of the game it was then 6-0 so a lot of defense. A safety was later added so the final score was 8-0.


"The odds are against me, but they don't control me" - Grant Storer on his myspace

Pictage Conference

The last several weeks have been just crazy...so much has gone by. And last week I was able to meet several of my heros in photography. (Dennis Reggie, Mike Colon, Nathan & Amber Holritz, David Jay, Dane Sanders, Jessica Claire and Ilana, as well as my encouragers Me Ra Koh and Brian...oh and Ira too. It was a great conference and I am excited and because of it I will be offering you my friends and clients some great new features and services over the next weeks and months.